Laundry Day
by OnBedAllDay
Summary: Thatch finds something quite interesting in his dorm mates' laundry baskets (In which Ace and Sabo are hardened university students who are missing their little brother too dearly). University-AU. Brotherly ASL.


**Summary:** Thatch finds something quite interesting in his dorm mates' laundry baskets (In which Ace and Sabo are hardened university students who are missing their little brother too dearly). University-AU. Brotherly ASL.

 **Author's Note:** Hello lovelies, I'm back from the dead! So, compared to last year, I'm all better now. I think I have my writing groove back, so I decided to practice my writing skills by writing this fic. ASL RULES.

Okay so, this piece is inspired by my own experience. Tbh, I still have stuffed toys at home and I don't like when they're washed in the washing machine. And then I saw this picture of Ace sleeping with a Luffy pilow, so I was like "that gives me an idea." And now we're here.

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 **Laundry day**

選択の日

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Thatch grumbles as he packs his dormmates' laundry into separate bags, each having their own name tags to avoid confusion. Normally, he doesn't mind being in-charge of laundry day. After all, he and his three dormmates have devised a chore calendar to see who gets to do which chore. But, with the pounding hangover he has right now, he isn't really in the best mood to do laundry. Especially when he is hit by the smell the musky odor of his dorm mates' week-old clothes.

Just behind his shoulder, Thatch notices the amused grin on his dormmate and childhood friend, Marco. That pineapple parakeet was supposed to be on laundry duty, but because of that wild poker game last night, Marco's having the time of his life by sitting on the bed and watching him struggle. While also drinking the rum in a "#1 Poker Player" mug that should've been his.

Thatch pouts. He is not jealous.

And he doesn't feel like crying either.

After packing his and Marco's laundry into their respective bags, he moves onto the pair that recently moved with them: Ace and Sabo. Despite being together for just six months, the fraternal twins have been a delightful company. Thatch gets along Ace the best, as both of them have the same sense of humor and love for pranks. While Marco and Sabo like to discuss politics and theories in their spare time.

(However, there are a lot of things that the twins like to keep to themselves. Like their family, for instance.)

As Thatch begins moving Ace's laundry from his laundry basket, the brunette grabs something thick and squishy in the younger one's pool of clothes. A pillow, Thatch muses. He is about to put it in the laundry bag when he realizes that the pillow has a face.

"What in the -" Thatch stumbles, dropping the pillow on the floor.

Shaped like a starfish with an enlarged bulb for a head, the pillow looks like a terribly failed attempt of a doll. It has an unevenly-cut red fabric draped on the top body while the lower half is dyed with light blue print to look like pants. On top of its head is a dark yellow beanie with a red stripe across it. It would've looked cute if it weren't for its face. It has two black buttons for eyes, one which is already loose, and a drawn scar below its right eye. It has a stitching for a smile, but the stitching is so bad that it looks like Babadook's smile more than anything. The pillow has stains all over it and smells of dried drool.

Thatch wipes his hands on his shirt as Marco approaches to look at the scene.

"What are you doing Tha - _what the hell is that thing_?" Marco asks. "Looks like a voodoo doll, yoi. Where did you find that?"

"In Ace's laundry," Thatch answers. "But I don't think this is his. It's too...creepy-looking." Unless Ace burns these things for his experiments. While Ace is known for his proficiency in chemistry, he is also known for his love of burning things. He has a Youtube channel for burning stuff. Maybe this is one of his props?

"Whatever. Just don't put it in - " And the door slams, revealing the pyromaniac itself.

"HANDS OFF OF LUFFY!" Ace shouts, snatching the dirty pillow from Thatch's grasps. He looks at Thatch as if the brunette is about to kill his own family member. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Laundry, dude," Thatch answers. "Also, weren't you supposed to be in class?"

"I sensed something was off, so I went back home to investigate," At this point, Marco shakes his head and returns to his bed. Marco has known too well that this is going to be one of Ace's shenanigans.

"Uh, okay then?" Thatch watches as Ace puts the pillow on his bed, showing gentleness that Thatch has never seen before. It reminds him of a kid who can't sleep without their favorite stuffed toy at night. Then, it clicks on him.

"Pfft, I didn't know you still had a stuffed toy, Ace," Thatch says. "That's so cute!"

A red blush erupts across Ace's freckled cheeks and ears. "H-he's not a stuffed toy! He's my brother!" Two pairs of eyes then look onto Ace with confusion. "I mean," Ace runs his fingers through his hair, embarrassed into the situation he had put himself into. "It's a doll of my younger brother, Luffy. When Sabo and I left to go to uni, he gave us this so we wouldn't miss him that much. And...it helps," For once, Ace's eyes fill with warmth as he gazes on the doll as if it's his little brother. "Whenever Sabo and I feel homesick, we just look at this doll and feel that Luffy's here."

Thatch and Marco look at each other in surprise. Never have they seen the hot-headed and mischievous Ace to show this side. Nor have they known that he had a younger brother.

Ace snaps away from his embarrassed state and turns to Thatch. "Anyway, where did you get him? I always hide Luffy under the pillows whenever I leave," Then, his eyes turned cold as he looked at Thatch with suspicion. "You weren't looking through my stuff, were you?"

"No way, man! I just found it in your laundry basket." Thatch points out. "You must've put it by mistake."

Ace furrows his eyebrows. "I'd never wash Luffy though. The only person who wants it washed is -" He freezes before letting out a malicious grin. "Saaaabooooo." The blonde fraternal twin apparently has arrived.

"You called?" Sabo says.

"Did you just put Luffy in the laundry basket? I told you to leave him alone!"

Sabo frowns. "Well, I would've left him alone if you stopped slobbering all over him when you sleep. God, I couldn't sleep next to him because he smells too much of your stinky breath."

"It's a condition, okay! You know that."

As the twins continue to bicker, Marco lets out a sigh. "These two never fails to surprise me."

Thatch chuckles. "Me too," As he gazes towards the pillow that resembles the twin's little brother, Thatch smiles. "I'd like to meet this 'Luffy' one day."

 **End.**

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 **Author's Note:** Hoped you liked this story. I will be updating the other fics in the near future.


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